Retail development on Pittsburgh's South Side could lead to residential growth

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Tracy Carbasho

Commercial real estate developers say the brisk retail activity on the South Side has primed the area to be a hotspot of residential growth.

“The South Side has become a desirable residential neighborhood, attracting young people and upscale professionals,” said Peter Sukernek, general manager and vice president of Howard Hanna Commercial Real Estate Services, Downtown. “It offers a combination of everything you want in a neighborhood, including employment opportunities, retail and entertainment.”

Sukernek said the South Side could follow the same trend that occurred in the Strip District, where many old warehouses have been converted to loft apartments. In particular, he believes transforming vacant buildings into avant-garde living accommodations to meet the needs of today’s busy professionals could be a profitable venture.

“There is a high occupancy rate on the South Side in commercial buildings and older industrial buildings. A lot of the bigger buildings have been purchased and torn down,” he said. “The trick is to find a building on property that is not large enough to be torn down and built upon, but something that can be renovated. Banks are interested in financing projects like this.”

$6M Library Breaks Ground in Pittsburgh

By Brianne Harrison via globest.com

PITTSBURGH-Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh broke ground Friday on its newest library here. The $6 million project will be located at 1210 Federal St. in the North Side area of the city.

Karen Loysen of Pittsburgh-based Loysen + Kreuthmeier Architects designed the new library. Construction bids are currently being accepted, and building is expected to commence after Memorial Day.

The library will take up a 16,500-sf lot that was previously the site of a gas station. It will be built and fitted out to LEEDs Certified standard, with natural lighting and energy-conscious mechanical and electrical systems. Plans for the building feature a dedicated children’s programming area, an outdoor terrace and the Allegheny City Room, which will house historical collections of the neighborhood.

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DiCicco Development plans hotels along Pittsburgh's Parkway West

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Ben Semmes

A Moon Township-based development company has secured two franchise deals for hotels that will be built along the Parkway West.

DiCicco Development LLC expects to start construction next spring on a 128-room Hilton Garden Inn and a 101-room Homewood Suites at its Scott Station development in Moon, west of Pittsburgh, the company announced Friday at a real estate forum sponsored by the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce.

Located between the headquarters of FedEx Ground and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Center, the 22-acre Scott Station site can accommodate an additional 104,000 square feet of office space, said Sam DiCicco Jr., president of DiCicco Development.

DiCicco Development, a general contractor and developer of mostly office properties along the Parkway West, has also pursued development in Florida.

$7.6M gift to help fund St. Vincent expansion

Pittsburgh Business Times

St. Vincent College said a $7.6 million donation from an alumnus will help fund a $40 million expansion of its science center.

The Latrobe, Pa.-based school said the center will be named The Sis and Herman Dupré Science Complex in recognition of the gift from the couple. An inventor and entrepreneur, Herman Dupré graduated from St. Vincent College in 1953.

The donation also kick-starts a $40 million fundraising campaign to complete the science complex, the school said.

"This is the largest and most exciting project in the 162-year history of St. Vincent College and I am pleased that the Boyer School will find a home in a state-of-the-art facility named in honor of Sis and Herman Dupré," school President Jim Towey said in a statement.

The planned building project will renovate nearly 60,000 square feet of space and add another 45,000 square feet of new construction to the original science center built in 1969.

The Pittsburgh firm of MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni Inc. is handling the design, the school said.

Pittsburgh's URA approves Downtown projects

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Ben Semmes

Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority gave approval Thursday to grant and loan agreements involving two critical Downtown developments.

The URA's board of directors voted unanimously to authorize agreements for Market Square Place, to be built in the former G.C. Murphy building, and the Century office building, a residential conversion project.

First, the board gave approval for the URA to seek $5.6 million in state grants for Cecil-based Millcraft Industries Inc.'s $36 million Market Square Place project. In addition to 46 loft-style apartments and 28,000 square feet of retail space, the project will feature a 44,000-square-foot YMCA.

The URA board also approved $2.8 million in low-interest loans for the Century office building, where Oakland-based TREK Development Group is partnering with the Cultural Trust to build 60 affordable and "work force" rental apartments in the 68,000-square-foot structure.

Weak demand for affordable housing tax credits, caused by the ongoing credit crunch, had threatened to delay the project.

But Bill Gatti, president of TREK, said that he was able to plug the gap with other sources and expects to begin construction on the project in July.

"We got what we need," he said.

Completion of the project is planned for the spring of 2009, he said.

bsemmes@bizjournals.com | (412) 208-3829

3 PNC Plaza: $200 million "Green" Mixed - Use

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Ben Semmes

Estimated cost:

$200 million

What:

780,000-square-foot, 23-story mixed-use tower will be home for PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

Where:

Intersection of Fifth Avenue and Liberty Avenue at Market Street Downtown.

What's unique about it:

The mixed-use nature of the building is unique in Pittsburgh. Once completed, 3 PNC Plaza will be one of the largest mixed-use "green" buildings in the world, with office space, a hotel, condominiums, retail and parking. PNC expects to seek U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification for the building's shell. The building will include a 185-room Fairmont hotel that is expected to be the world's first LEED certified hotel under the flag of a major chain. Office space within the building is also expected to be LEED certified. A triangular block at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Liberty Avenue, which is now part of the construction project, will become green space.